These Empty Places
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected 5 May 2026
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- 10,99 €
Publisher Description
When their worlds are upended, two women brought together by their loss discover what truly matters most.
Claire Roth sacrificed love for a life of comfort on Lake Toxaway--until the dam broke, and the lake washed down the side of the mountain. Fourteen years later, she longs to see the lake restored to its former glory even as the country faces hard economic times on the eve of the Great Depression.
Socialite Lena Hawkins married her first love, who swept her off her feet after skyrocketing from rags to riches by speculating in the stock market. Now penniless and rejected by her family, Lena and her husband have arrived at Lake Toxaway for a fresh start. There, Lena forms an unexpected connection with Claire, who hires her to assist with the personal library Claire is building to provide jobs and education for their struggling North Carolina community. When Claire is given a second chance at love and Lena a tempting chance at a life of independence, both women must release the past to fill tomorrow with promise.
Sarah Loudin Thomas paints a rich Southern historical story of friendship, second-chance romance, and new beginnings set in small-town North Carolina on the eve of the Great Depression. This read is perfect for book clubs and fans of Patti Callahan and Lisa Wingate.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Two women find friendship and second chances on the shores of a now-barren North Carolina lake in this moving historical from Thomas (These Blue Mountains). In 1915 Claire Roth and her husband build an impressive home on the shores of Lake Toxaway, N.C., but soon afterward, the dam that formed the lake bursts and all the water rushes downriver. Fast-forward to 1930: the Great Depression has taken hold and Claire, now widowed, decides to build a library to employ out-of-work townspeople and revive the bustling town. To get the project off the ground, she hires Lena Hawkins, a lonely ex-socialite who's new in town and whose husband lost it all in the stock market crash. As the pair get to work, several investors, attracted by the project, consider rebuilding the dam and restoring the lake. But Claire's afraid to dream of the lake's revival, and things get more complicated when she's romantically pursued by a potential investor, while Lena's marriage is strained by her husband's money-making schemes. Both women look to God as they weigh how far they'll go to hold onto their pasts while building a new future for the town and themselves. Thomas vividly portrays the restlessness of small-town life during the Depression, but the friendship between Claire and Lena—who connect over books despite their age difference—is the story's beating heart. Readers will be swept up.
